There are billions of stars, millions of planets, but there is only one man, Terrance McDoogal. Welcome to LIU Atlas.

About this creation

LIU Atlas - Eruca System

The Ludgonian Industrial Union's galaxy contains billions of stars and billions of planets. Unfortunately, most residents of the LIU could only name a handful of these worlds. In order to improve astronomy grades across the LIU, TV2 has started a new program called LIU Atlas. Follow our host, Terrance McDoogal, as he takes you on a tour across the LIU and some of its more obscure worlds.

Note: This episode is presented in full screen. The corresponding dialogue is underneath each photo.

Doog: “Welcome to another episode of LIU Atlas. I’m your host, Terrance “Doog” McDoogal. Today we’re visiting the Eruca System, a star system in the LIU Galaxy’s Deep Core. Like most systems in the crowded Deep Core, Eruca did not have sufficient material in its circumstellar accretion disk to form planets. Instead, the system is populated with numerous smaller bodies, like comets. These comets, which consist primarily of water and ammonia ices, release valuable particles as they approach their star.”

Doog: “Because these particles are an important source of fuel, an Octan Fuel Refinery was placed into orbit around Eruca. This space station processes and stores fuels.”

Doog: “The station is divided into three sections: the top section is a storage tank, the middle contains processing facilities, and the lower section contains administration offices and housing for the stations forty thousand workers.”

Doog: “Various LIU tanker ships visit the station daily and transport fuels across the galaxy. Alright, we’ve been given clearance to enter the facility.”

Doog: “I’ve been dropped off inside one the station’s hangar bays. My first observation is that these guys spared no expense when it came to corporate branding. This place screams Octan. Octan, as I’m sure you’re aware, is an LIU owned company. It handles all the LIU’s fuel needs. Now, I’ve dealt with Octan workers before, so I’m not expecting much from my guide. Hopefully, he can speak in complete sentences. It would be a step up.”

Papilio: “Doog? Welcome to the Eruca Refining Station. I’m Dr. Papilio, lead station scientist.”
Doog: “Doctor? Scientist? I thought all you Octan guys were fuel sniffing degenerates.”
Papilio: “Hardly. I have doctorates in chemistry and astrophysics, and a minor in Particle Propulsion Engineering. Unfortunately, some of the lower ranking members of Octan have given us all a bad name.”
Doog: “So there’s no fuel sniffers here?”
Papilio: “Not to my knowledge. We handle ion-based fuels here, not hydrocarbon fuels. Sniffing ion fuel wouldn’t alter one’s perception; it would only alter their status as living or dead.”
Doog: “Gotcha. So shall we continue?”
Papilio: “Yes. We’re in the lower section of the station, I figured we’d visit the control room first.”

Papilio: “This is our control room where we monitor all the system’s major comets.”
Doog: “What’s so important about comets?”

Papilio: “Well, comets, when exposed to Eruca’s radiation, heat up and begin outgassing. This forms a thin atmosphere around the comet known as the coma. Eruca’s prevailing solar winds apply force to the coma and form a long tail that points away from the star.”
Doog: “I may not have all your fancy degrees, but I know what a comet is. I asked what is important about them.”
Papilio: “I’m getting there. Most of the comets we harvest consist of water ice, so their tail is usually of combination of water and dust. Photodissocation and photoionization convert the H2O molecules in the tail into H3O+, or Hydronium.”
Doog: “And that’s important how?”
Papilio: “Well, Hydronium is a positively charged polyatomic ion, a type of oxonium ion.”
Doog: Blink, Blink
Papilio: “It’s an ion, and we make ion-based fuels. Well, technically natural forces make the ions, we just harvest them.”
Doog: “That makes more sense.”

Papilio: “In order to harvest the comets’ tails, we need to track them. Comets don’t form a distinctive tail until they get within three or four AU of the star. This horizontal screen shows our radar tracking. It looks like we have four comets within this range.”
Doog: “So what’s next?”
Papilio: “We can head up to one of the service hangars and take a look at some of the collectors.”
Doog: “Sounds good.”

Doog: “What are these guys doing?”
Papilio: “Oh, that’s one of our call centers. They receive orders for fuel and arrange shipments.”

Papilio: “Ah, here we are.”

Papilio: “This is one of our standard collectors, the LIU Mag Scoop. We have a fleet of about five hundred of them. It looks like this unit has been taken out of the field for repairs. Flying behind comets can be hard on the collectors, especially when larger chucks break away.”

Doog: “How do they work?”
Papilio: “The LIU Mag Scoop has eight magnetic discs that form large, looping magnetic fields. This fields trap ions and transport them to storage tanks. They simply fly behind the comet.”
Doog: “It’s not very big. It must not cover a lot of ground.”
Papilio: “The ship itself isn’t very big, but the magnetic fields they create are rather large, about fifty times larger than the ship itself. Factor that in with the amount of collectors we have, and we’re collecting several million tons of ions every week.”

Doog: “So, how do ions translate into fuel?”
Papilio: “They are used in ion drives. Electromagnetic forces eject ions out of the thruster. In space, where there is no friction, it’s an efficient form of sub-light transportation. Your ship might even utilize ion drives.
Doog: “The Magellan? Maybe. All I know is she has some energy cells. And the inside smells like a Kaadu fart.”
Papilio: “Energy cells probably power your FTL drive, but who knows what you use for sub-light movement. There are a lot of forms of propulsion.”

Doog: “What’s going on here?”
Papilio: “Most of our ion fuel is delivered in massive tankers, but we also bottle individual tanks for our smaller customers.”

Papilio: “Not a lot to see here, just your standard automated assembly line. Here’s a fun fact, the ions are transported in a inert gas, in this case, Xenon.”
Doog: “I experienced zero fun with that fact Doc.”
Papilio: “Ok. Well what about this? Do you know how the Eruca System got its name?”
Doog: “Uh, no.”
Papilio: “The first travelers in this region imaged Eruca from afar. When they looked at the images, all they could see where glowing streaks of light inching around everywhere. They thought they were space caterpillars! Sounds stupid now, as we all know they were just seeing the system’s abundant comets.”
Doog: “Yep. Still not having any fun. Nice try though, Doc.”

Papilio: “The filled containers are transported with our Loader to pallets and then shipped out.”

Papilio: “As I’m sure you saw during your approach, most of our fuel is moved by larger tanker ships, specifically the LIU Supertanker Mark II.”

Papilio: “This tanker is capable of transporting enormous amounts of fuel.”
Doog: “Anything else to add?”
Papilio: “No, that’s it. Not much to making ion-based fuels, especially when the comets do most of the work!”

Doog: “Well folks, the Eruca System is an interesting place. By harvesting the system’s comets, Octan workers are able to make Hydronium, a sub-light propulsion fuel. This fuel is used to navigate space when the ship is not traveling at faster than light speeds. Well, see ya next time.”

I think it's been awhile since I mentioned how fantastic your sets are, always full of great little details and interesting designs. Of course, 'smells like a Kaadu fart' made me giggle like Phippy at a Poo family reunion.~H

Love the name of this one. A nice pun! I saw the opening photo on Flickr and thought that perhaps it was a one-off. It's great to see another episode so soon. The whole back-story seems quite scientifically plausible and I like the idea that they bottle their ions for small users and export them in supertankers, just like gas. The Octan corporate branding is excellent, especially the big name on the hangar floor and the comet tracking room. I like the conveyor and the bottling machines too. Lastly, nice to see the return of big, smooth, white LIU starships. A superb assortment of quality builds, coupled to a great story. I think that this is a classic episode of LIU Atlas.

Papilio & ions? I hope the LIU Galaxy is not headed for some kind of chaotic situation! ;) The 'effect' might disturb that lovely spiral! Anyhoo, for now... that tanker is a thing of beauty, as are the photos of Doogie and Dr. Butterfly walking down the corriders! :)